The Ten Things I Hate About Chloe Beale

Chapter Ten: Chloe Beale - Pizza Rolls Thief

~Present~

Fifteen minutes had passed and Beca found herself lying on top of Chloe's body, kissing her passionately and running her hands through soft red locks. She had been dreaming of this moment for months and now that it was happening she had to keep telling herself that it was actually real. That Chloe's hands were really running slowly up her back and that her mouth tasted like strawberries and that her body was so intoxicatingly warm that it made her…she felt alive for the first time and it was amazing. This was amazing.

It couldn't last forever though and as Beca slipped her leg in between Chloe's and started to unbutton her shirt, Chloe pulled away and smiled up at her shyly. Her face was red from their make out session and her lipstick was smeared across her lips and the hint of sweat on her brow seemed to make her glow as it was backlit by Beca's desk lamp. She looked gorgeous and Beca groaned as she looked down at her and had to stop herself from attacking her lips again.

"Hi", Chloe slurred lazily while flashing a smile at Beca.

Beca chuckled to herself and pulled away from Chloe's face, leaning back on her legs that were straddling Chloe's thighs and just staring down at the girl as she took everything in. After a few moments of just watching her, Beca grinned and said "Hi. Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are? It's kind of ridiculous."

"I've heard it from time to time, but never from someone that I care about as much as you. How are you feeling about this whole thing? Do you still like me after that kiss?"

"Like you?" Beca laughed, finding Chloe completely ridiculous sometimes. "God, after that kiss I'm practically in love with you." The words spilt out of her mouth without her really thinking about them and the smile grew on Chloe's face as Beca's eyes widened and she slapped her hands over her mouth. Oops.

Chloe didn't freak out at her admission though and instead reached up and started to run her hands up and down Beca's bare arms. The warmth and softness of Chloe's hands touching her sent shockwaves through Beca's body and she couldn't stop herself as she leaned forwards and crashed her lips against Chloe's again. Chloe allowed her to kiss her again but pulled away quickly and panted "Let's take it a little slower. I'm not going anywhere and I hope that you're not either. Can I ask you something, though?"

Chloe's voice had trailed off as the question slipped off of her tongue and Beca paled as she imagined just what Chloe had to say to her. She moved her hands back to Chloe's cheeks and cupped them tenderly before she ran a thumb lazily over her lips and mumbled "You can ask me anything, Chloe. I'm not going anywhere either."

"Good. I just...wanted to know why you've been so weird towards me over these past few weeks. It's just that we were really close and then regionals and that fight happened and I know that things haven't been the same between us. We're kissing now and that's really nice, but I want to clear that up before I let you take my shirt off. It feels so good, but I do have some standards and I'd kinda like to know if you're upset before you put the moves on me. So, spill your guts and we can continue this make out session."

Beca blushed, having been unaware that Chloe had even noticed the cold shoulder that she had given to her over the last few weeks, and slowly slid off of her body and stood up next to the bed. She played with a frayed edge on her hoodie and looked down at Chloe, who was sitting up now and hugging her knees into her chest. She looked like she was setting herself up to be let down again and Beca felt tears rush to her eyes at the sight. She hated that she brought any kind of sadness to her sweet face and she didn't want to disappoint her. That had been what kept her lips away from hers for so long and she wasn't going to blow it. She couldn't blow it.

Beca flashed Chloe a tight smile as she sunk onto the corner of her desk and mumbled "There's nothing wrong. I'm fine and you're just imagining it. Nothing has changed between us, or at least nothing up until tonight. You must be crazy or stressed out with school or Aubrey, because we're fine."

"First we kissed and now you're lying to me." Chloe shook her head with a tight smile."We're progressing pretty nicely for our first night, but that's alright. I think I'm going to head back to my dorm now. Tonight was great and I loved that you kissed me and told me how you feel and I don't want…we need to have a conversation that you don't want to have and I know that it's going to hurt and I just want to enjoy what happened tonight. I'll see you tomorrow."

Chloe neared the door and Beca ran a hand through her tousled locks, frustrated because she wanted Chloe to stay and upset because she had been right. She really didn't want to talk about what had been pulling them apart, but she had to if she wanted to keep Chloe around. Beca bit her lip as Chloe's hand closed around the doorknob and as she started to slide the door open, Beca leapt from her desk and exclaimed "Don't go! Close the door and sit down and I'll tell you what's wrong." Chloe slowly started to turn around and Beca breathed a sigh of relief before she continuted. "Just...promise me that you won't hate me after I'm done, okay?"

"I could never hate you. Maybe if you were like a murderer or something, but not over this. What's going on?" Chloe asked, walking away from the door and back towards the bed.

Beca watched as Chloe sat back down on the edge of her bed and as she walked over and joined her, she felt the blood rush to her face and sweat start to bead on her forehead. It had been keeping her awake at night and occupying her mind since Chloe drunkenly broke the news to her and Beca knew now that it would hurt now more than ever. That knowing that Chloe cared about her would make losing her even harder. That she didn't want her to leave Barden and that she wanted to hold her forever.

It had taken what had seemed like a lifetime for one perfect moment between the two of them and now…it would all be over when she opened her mouth. Beca swiped away at a tear that had somehow managed to slip down her cheeks and shook her head as her face burnt with embarrassment. One hour into a relationship and she was already losing it. Nice job, Mitchell. Nice job.

8. I hate that Chloe lets Aubrey walk all over her. She's co-captain of the Bellas and everyone respects her more than they could ever respect the Aca-Bitch, but that doesn't matter to Aubrey. She doesn't let Chloe get a say in anything and I know that it bugs her, but she won't say a word and she just takes it. It hurts me to even watch it and I know that one day she's going to explode and I hope that I'm not there for it, because I'm pretty sure that she's going to murder her when it happen. Instead, I'll just handle the messy stuff first, like the very drunk Chloe Beale who is currently passed out on my bed. If this keeps up though, I may have to kill Aubrey myself, because Chloe + alcohol = one hot, giant mess.

~February: Two Weeks Until Regionals~

The girls were practicing for the millionth time for regionals, which were in two weeks, and Beca was consciously having to control her eyes from closing shut as they launched into Eternal Flame for the sixth time that practice. She had no problem with The Bangles, heck Walk Like An Egyptian was one of her favorite songs of all time, but if she had to hear Chloe sing this stupid song one more time…she was pretty sure that she would hop on a plane and find Susanna Hoffs and punch her in the face.

The restless energy in the room let her know that she wasn't alone in this feeling and as Chloe reached the chorus, Beca flashed Aubrey a dirty look and purposely missed her note. Aubrey caught it immediately and stopped Chloe before moving from their formation and standing in front of Beca. She moved close to her and once their faces were inches apart, she gave Beca a deadly scowl and snapped "Seriously, Beca? Did you just mess us up on purpose?"

"No, Aubrey, I would never do a thing like that", Beca sarcastically replied while shuffling her feet and biting back a smirk. "I just missed my note. Maybe it's because we've done this song over and over since practice started and I'm getting bored. I think we're all kind of bored with it at this point."

Beca looked around at the other girls, hoping for some kind of back-up and getting none. They all looked away from her, knowing that Aubrey was tense and could easily fly off the handle, and Beca just rolled her eyes as she reached for her water bottle. After taking a long sip from it, she cocked an eyebrow and murmured "Ok, maybe not. Still, can we take a break?"

Aubrey just shook her head as she moved back to her place next to Chloe and said "Absolutely not. Do that again and you're out of the Bellas." When Beca laughed, having heard this threat a million times, Aubrey scowled and warned "Don't laugh at me, Beca. I mean it this time!"

"Aubrey, don't", Chloe soothed while stepping towards her. "She's right and we're all really bored with this song. Let's just take a break and do something else. Maybe we could try Turn The Beat Around. I've been dying to hear Amy's solo and it could be nice to run through that a few times. Right, guys?"

The other girls nodded and murmured their approval and Amy stepped forward with an eager smile on her face as she anxiously bounced back and forth on her feet. She smiled widely at Aubrey and started to ramble erratically, her excitement almost too much to control. "Yeah, Aubrey. It would be amazing! I've been working on this really hot dance move that I used to do back when I went clubbing in Australia and it used to bring the house down. Maybe we could incorporate it into the set. It's this thing where you tear your shirt open and it's really-"

"First of all, no one is tearing anything open. We're ladies, not strippers, and that won't fly at regionals. Secondly, I have the pitch pipe and I say what we sing and we're doing Eternal Flame. If anyone has a problem with that, they can leave."

When no one moved, Aubrey shot a smug smile towards Chloe and announced "Good. Chloe, start us out from the top."

Beca glimpsed over at Chloe and frowned when she saw that her face was flushed with embarrassment from being shut down by Aubrey. The other girls seemed to notice it too and were shooting her sympathetic looks as she started to sing. Beca felt a sudden surge of anger from the way Aubrey had treated her, but didn't dare make a move as her part kicked in and she hit her not perfectly. Still, how could she let Aubrey treat her friend like that? What kind of friend was she?

"One that valued their vocal chords…", she thought bitterly as they launched into the chorus.

Practice ended after another hour and Beca wanted to follow after Chloe as she separated from the group, but Cynthia Rose was in her face asking her about headphones and she couldn't get her to shut up. As she listened to Cynthia debate between three different kinds of headphones, Beca cut her off and said "Just get the Beats. They're good for just listening to music and you'll look hot in them. I have to go."

She pulled away from Cynthia Rose and looked around for Chloe, but couldn't find her anywhere. Stacie caught her looking around and with a grin asked "Looking for your girlfriend? She's outside with Aubrey and from what I heard, they're having a huge fight. Want to go watch?!"

"Seriously?" Beca questioned while making a face. "Stay in here and back off a little. It's not a movie or something, God."

Beca pushed away from her and walked through the double doors that led outside, standing on the top of the steps as she took in the scene in front of her. Aubrey was pale and yelling at Chloe, who had tears rolling down her face and wasn't saying a word. Beca didn't know what to do and just stood there as she listened in on the conversation they were having oblivious to her presence.

"Why do you question me in front of all of them?" Aubrey questioned while shaking her head. "You're turning them against me and I don't understand. Do you want the pitch pipe? Do you think you could do a better job of leading them when you can't even sing? Who would take you seriously?"

"I can't believe you!" Chloe spat out with her mouth dropping open. "I can't control my nodes and I'm sorry if it pisses you off that I can't do as many solos as you had planned, but there's nothing I can do about it. I'm not turning them against you either; you're doing it yourself."

"Sure, it's all on me. I'm the bad guy because I want us to win. That's really cute, Chloe. What else have you got?" Aubrey smirked at her, her annoyance coming to a head as she dared Chloe to fire back. "Maybe I'm being too rough on Beca or pushing them too hard with the rehearsals. It's always the same from you and I'm getting tired of it."

"Aubrey, I'm not against you! You're my best friend and I don't want to see you put yourself through all of this stress to get us ready. I'm co-captain, but you don't treat me like it and it makes me…it hurts when you just brush me aside and ignore my ideas. I love a cappella and these girls, but I hate coming to practice and doing all of this now and I never thought that would happen. You're ruining this for me, just like…"

She trailed off before she could continue and Aubrey paled as she murmured "Just like last year? That's what you meant to say, right Chloe" When Chloe didn't say anything, Aubrey blushed and felt the tears brim in her eyes as she exclaimed "God, I knew it! You're just like them and I've been so stupid this whole time! I may have ruined things for us last year, but you're certainly taking care of us this year. Maybe you should just quit now so we won't have to listen to your voice crack each time you hit the high notes. Better yet, stay in the group and I'll let Amy tear her shirt open at regionals so it'll distract the judges from just how much we suck. Sound good?"

The tears were pouring down Chloe's face now and she simply shook her head as she caught Beca standing on the stairs and ran away from the pair. Aubrey was breathing heavily as she watched her friend bolt and Beca desperately wanted to run after her, but knew that Chloe was upset and that there was nothing she could do to change things between her and Aubrey. There was too much unrest between the two and from what she had heard in their argument, it was quickly coming to a head.

"What do you want, Beca?" Aubrey snapped when she spotted her standing on the steps. "Do you want to rub it in a little or complain about something else that I'm doing wrong? Please, fire away. It's not like I haven't heard it before."

Beca just shook her head and said "I can't believe you just said that to her. She can't control her nodes and she's actually trying to keep us together, but you're making it impossible. She's the only person that has your back and you just yelled at her like that. You're not going to stop until all of us quit and then you'll have nothing left. I'm leaving now."

As she started to walk away, Beca saw the one thing that she had never imagined happening in her life. Aubrey Posen was freaking crying and Beca just rolled her eyes as she lingered on the steps for a moment, watching her in disbelief. When Aubrey ran away from the building a moment, Beca went back into the room and grabbed her stuff to leave. As she put her jacket on though, a strange realization when through her head that stopped her in her tracks. She actually cared about Aubrey Posen and felt bad for her. What the hell was happening to her?

Beca was lounging on her bed hours later when her phone started to ring. As she picked it up and examined the screen, she frowned when she saw Stacie's name on it. The girl never called her and Beca rolled her eyes as she answered the call and heard people cheering and loud music blaring in the background. She pressed the phone closer to her ear and said "Stacie? What's going on? Where are you?"

"Beca? Hey could you come over here and get Chloe?" Stacie held a hand over her free ear, shouting over the music as she tried desperately to hear her. "She's really drunk and she asked me not to call Aubrey, so I'm calling you. I wouldn't usually call, but she's pretty wasted and I don't want someone to mess with her. You know?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way." Beca nodded as she started to pull her shoes on. "Just make sure she doesn't get into any trouble before I get there. I don't want Aubrey to murder me or something. I'll be there in ten."

Beca walked into the packed sorority house and didn't have to venture too far into the crowds of people to see Chloe doing a keg stand. Two guys were holding her up and one of them was staring down at her breasts as she gulped down beer. Beca shook her head in disbelief at the situation Chloe had gotten herself into as she pressed forward and saw Stacie standing next to them. She shoved Stacie's shoulder as they put Chloe down and exclaimed "What the hell, Stacie?! I thought you were watching her. This is not watching her, especially if she's drunk."

Stacie rolled her eyes as she leaned into one of the guys that was keeping Chloe upright and affirmed "I am watching her. I was watching her doing an amazing keg stand with Jake and Rick! They're from Alpha Kappa Tau and they're so cute! Do you want to do one, Beca? They won't drop you, I promise."

"We definitely won't", one of the guys drawled, winking at Beca and motioning for her to step forward. "Come on, it'll be fun…"

Beca sighed and rolled her eyes at the guy's blatant attempt to put his hands on her. Chloe was wavering on her feet and clutching the other guy and Beca knew that she had to get her out of here before she made a huge mistake. She wrapped an arm around Chloe's back and firmly ordered "Come on Chlo; let's get you out of here and away from these assholes."

Chloe smiled up at her grabbed her body, almost toppling over as she slurred "Beca! You're so blurry! Why are you spinning?"

Beca ignored her question and started to pull her away when the guy that was holding her yelled "Hey! Where are you going with her? We were having fun!"

"Getting her so drunk that she can't even walk was fun? What were you planning on doing? Taking her upstairs and having sex with her? Find someone else to take advantage of, asshole." Beca shook her head, wrapping her arms tighter around Chloe and starting to move her.

"No one was taking advantage of anyone." The guy stepped towards her, a glint shining in his eyes and the tone of his dropping as he quickly became a menacing obstacle. "It's not my fault if she gets wasted and falls on top of me upstairs. Now, let her go and run back to your little dorm room. What is a nerd like this doing at this party anyway? What are you, a narc?"

Beca rolled her eyes and started to walk away with Chloe, but the guy wasn't having it. He reached out to grab Chloe and Beca turned around quickly, glaring at the guy and slugging him in the face as he touched Chloe's shoulder. Blood spurted out of his nose as he collapsed to his knees and everyone turned to look at him as he howled in pain. Oh God, not again.

Beca took this as a cue to get out of there and pushed Chloe through the people and outside. As the girl leaned heavily on her and Beca practically carried her as they walked back to her dorm, Chloe played with her hair and was in awe as she asked "Did you really punch another guy at Stacie's place? They're not going to let you back in there."

"That's a good thing, Chloe." Beca sighed as she pushed the drunk girl through the quad. "You do stupid things when we go over there. Now, keep quiet or I'm leaving you here for campus security to find you."

Chloe laughed as she wrapped an arm around Beca's back and mumbled "Boo, you jerk. You like this and I'm a lovely drunk." When Beca just shook her head, Chloe giggled and asked "Do you have pizza? Let's stop and get some pizza. I'm so hungry!"

Beca smiled as she spotted her building in the distance and replied "No pizza tonight. If you promise to be quiet, Kimmy Jin has some Pizza Rolls in her freezer and I'll steal them for you. You have to promise to be good though because she's not going to be happy when she sees us back here."

"I promise." Chloe smiled as they started down the hill that led to the residence halls. "God, I love Kimmy Jin. She always has the best food."

"Seriously?" Beca almost dropped Chloe as the words slipped out of her mouth. "How much did you have to drink?"

Thirty minutes later, Beca stepped into the shower and held out a sweatshirt for Chloe to put on. Chloe pulled the towel away from her chest and smiled up at Beca who stared at her for a moment and then quickly looked away. Chloe yanked the sweatshirt down over her head with clumsy hands and announced "So, we meet again in the shower. We really need to stop doing this." As Beca blushed and shook her head at her, Chloe raised an eyebrow with a predatory smile and teased "I'm starting to think that you like this. I don't blame you, I have a hot bod."

"You need to stop finding a way into my building then." Beca smirked as she handed Chloe some pajama bottoms. "You get a pass this time because I kinda forced you in here, but why were you the whole way across campus the first time? Doesn't your building have showers?"

Chloe shrugged as she stepped into the pants and began to explain. "It does. They put time limits on the showers in my dorm though and yours doesn't have them. How does this school expect me to hook up with Tom if we can only get a shower for ten minutes? He's good, but not that good."

Beca took Chloe's dirty clothes from her and flung them over her shoulder as Chloe stepped out of the shower. The clothing smelt like a brewery and as she wrapped an arm around Chloe's back and guided her out of the shower room, she mused "I'm sure that your sex life is a pressing concern for the university. Now, Kimmy Jin knows that your sleeping over and she's not happy about it, so be extra nice to her. Okay?"

"Sure!" Chloe exclaimed as she flung an arm around Beca's waist. "I'm always nice and she loves me. I'm sure of it."

"I hate your friends, Beca." Kimmy snarled as she glared over at Chloe's body that was slumped across Beca's bed. "I left the room to get my laundry for five minutes and you let her eat my freaking Pizza Rolls! Do I have to write my name on everything in the refrigerator now?"

"No, that's crazy. I'm sorry about the Pizza Rolls, Kimmy. She's just really drunk and she had a bad day and I let her have them. I'll buy you another box tomorrow."

Kimmy raised an eyebrow at Beca and Beca sighed before offering "Two boxes?"

Kimmy shook her head and Beca said "Okay, fine. Three boxes and a tub of Ben & Jerry's; that's my final offer. You have to let her stay the night though. She's upset and I don't want her to go back to her room for a while. Her roommate sucks right now and I just want to keep her here."

As Chloe moaned and grabbed at her head as she woke up from her slumber, Kimmy smirked and admitted "Well, she is kinda pathetic so I guess she can stay. I'll stay at Amy Chen's tonight so you guys can talk. I hate drunk people and you should probably get over there because it looks like she's about to puke." As Beca looked over at Chloe, who was clutching her stomach and dry heaving, Kimmy grinned and exclaimed "Have fun!"

Beca stroked Chloe's sweaty hair as she pulled the garbage can away from her mouth and said "I think that's all of it. It has to be all of it or I'm going to start to wonder if you secretly have two stomachs or something. Do you feel better?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." Chloe nodded as she laid her head onto Beca's pillow. "I'm pretty sure that I'm done and I just want to lie down for a little. My head is killing me."

Beca just nodded as Chloe closed her eyes and took the can out to the dumpster outside to dispose of Chloe's vomit. When she returned to her room, Chloe had flipped over onto her back and was looking at her cell phone. She glanced up at Beca as she walked into the room and softly murmured "Bree's called me fifteen times since practice. She probably just wants to yell at me some more. I hate her sometimes."

"She had no right to say what she did to you today", Beca empathized as she slid the phone from Chloe's hands. "You can't control your nodes and she needs to realize that and stop blaming you. She can't control her stomach and you don't blame her for that, so she needs to grow up. Can I ask you something?"

Chloe nodded as she swiped a hand across her aching eyes and Beca handed her a water bottle from the refrigerator as she sat next to her on the bed. Chloe took a long sip of the cool liquid and replied "Sure, ask me anything."

"Why were you drinking tonight?" Beca asked softly as she looked down at her lap. "If she drives you this crazy then you should tell her about it. Stand up for yourself and quit letting her treat you like this. It's not fair and a lot of us are getting tired of it."

"I can't. She's my best friend and she drives me insane sometimes, but I hate having her mad at me. It's easier to just let her control everything than to have a night like tonight." Chloe shook her head as she handed the bottle back to Beca, visibly upset as she tried not to think about their fight. "Besides, she doesn't mean half of what she says when she gets upset and I'll come back to my room tomorrow and she'll apologize and everything will be okay. This isn't the first time that this has happened anyway; it's just the first time that we've had an audience."

Beca blushed and softly apologized "Sorry about that. Stacie told me that you guys were fighting and I just wanted to make sure that you guys didn't kill each other or something. So, why did you go over to Stacie's and get drunk? Was it because of Aubrey?"

Chloe shrugged and confessed "Kinda. I'm just…this is my senior year and nothing has gone to plan so far. My voice sucks and Bellas isn't fun anymore and Aubrey…we were going to live together next year for grad school but I just have to get away, you know?"

Beca hesitantly nodded and paled when Chloe continued "It's stupid, but I've applied to like five different grad schools and none of them are around here. I always pictured myself staying here and living in a little apartment with Aubrey and just having fun, but I can't do this anymore. I still applied to Barden and I got in, but that's like the worst case scenario."

Beca's mouth suddenly felt like it was full of cotton and she swallowed a few times before she softly asked "Where else did you apply?"

Chloe played with her hands as she squeezed her teary eyes shut and softly replied "NYU, Johns Hopkins, and Pitt in the north. Um…UCLA and USC out west. I really want to go to a school up north though. They're all really good medical schools and maybe it would be nice to go somewhere a little different. Somewhere with actual seasons and snow and just…away from here."

Tears flooded Beca's eyes as the realization sunk in as Chloe's voice trailed off. She was leaving. She had always imagined that Chloe would stay and that they would still hang out and that she would help with the Bellas, but she was going away and that was…it was terrifying.

Chloe squeezed her hand as she drifted off to sleep and Beca blinked her eyes rapidly as she whispered "I wish you would stay."

Chloe smiled a little as she slipped away and murmured "Me too."

The words cut through Beca like a knife and she squeezed her eyes shut as the tears wanted desperately to slide from her eyes. It figured that she would fall in love with the one person that was leaving. No one ever stuck around for her and why should she think that Chloe was any different? Everyone she loved always left in the end.

Beca was watching Chloe sleep out of the corner of her eye and messing around on her laptop when her phone started to ring. It was late, almost two in the morning, and she sighed when she saw that Aubrey was calling. She answered it anyway and softly greeted her with "Aubrey, what do you want? You do realize that it's super late, right?"

Aubrey's voice sounded distant and wavering, almost like she was on a boat that was rocking back and forth, and Beca swore for a moment that she could make out a sniffle. She was right when a moment later Aubrey sniffled loudly and hiccupped into her ear. Beca glared over at Chloe for putting her in this situation and softly asked "Aubrey? Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not. Beca, do you know where Chloe is? I know that she was at Stacie's party, but she never came back. I've called her all night and no one has seen her and I'm worried. Those parties are always full of creepy frat guys and what if...?" A sob broke loose from Aubrey's throat and she tearfully continued. "I'm scared, Beca. This isn't like her."

"I know", Beca admitted as she looked back down at Chloe's sleeping body.

"I just don't want anyone hurting her." Aubrey sniffled as her tears let up a little. "It's not safe at those parties and what if someone has her or is taking advantage-"

"Hey, don't think like that. I have her here with me. Stacie called me because she was really drunk at the party and I brought her back here. She's okay though and she'll be back in the morning. She just needed to be alone for a little bit."

Aubrey sniffled and said "Oh, thank God. I just was really worried and I should have figured that she would be with you. She really likes you, you know?"

Beca shook her head and replied "She's my friend and I don't treat her like garbage. Maybe you should try that when she does come back so this doesn't happen again."

Aubrey was crying now and gasped out "I know. I screwed up and she must hate me now. What if she quits the Bellas over this? What will we do then? We can't win without her."

"I know. She's not going to quit though and she doesn't hate you. She's just upset, but it'll blow over tomorrow when you guys talk. Just be nice to her and it'll be okay. You know how Chloe is and she would never hold this against you. So, please stop crying because this is getting kinda weird."

Aubrey laughed softly as she pulled herself together and said "Yeah, I guess it is. I'm going to go now, but keep an eye on her and make sure that she doesn't die or anything."

"Die?" Beca questioned with a snort. "I'm pretty sure that she won't do that when she's just laying here on my bed sleeping, but I will keep an eye on her. Any other demands, Aubrey?"

"No, I guess that's sufficient. Thank you for picking up my phone call, by the way. No one else has and you were kind of my last resort."

"Well, I didn't want you to kill me tomorrow at practice", Beca shot back while rolling her eyes. "We should really end this conversation now before you keep insulting me and say something that I really don't like. I'm hanging up…"

"Ok, I'm hanging up too." She paused for a moment and Beca was about to ask if she was still there when Aubrey softly continued "Thank you for being there for her. You're a good friend Beca and she…she really cares about you. Good night."

She hung up the phone and Beca stared down at hers for a moment before placing it on her desk. She closed her laptop and was about to lie down next to Chloe, but stopped and just stared at her for a moment. Even though her makeup had washed off in the shower and her face was pale from being so drunk, she looked absolutely gorgeous and Beca felt hopelessly in love.

She thrust those thoughts into the back of her mind though as she flipped off the lamp next to her bed and pulled the blankets over her body. If Chloe really liked her as much as Aubrey said, then she wouldn't be leaving in the fall.

Beca never asked for this connection when she started out here and tried at all costs to avoid it, but that girl had burst into her life and made her place known. Beca didn't want her to leave and as the tears stung her eyes and she squeezed them shut, she regretted even getting close to her in the first place. Why did everyone she love have to let her down in the end?

Love. When the hell had she fallen in love with Chloe Beale? She had gone straight from crush to head over heels in love and that…that was the worst thing of all. She could deal with Chloe being gone, but not the ensuing heartbreak and she didn't know what to do. That list she had prided herself on hadn't prevented this and now…she was a goner.

Still, she couldn't wait to add this to that stupid list in the morning. Just another reason why she was the world's biggest idiot, because falling in love with Chloe Beale? Only self-destructive dumbasses did that. Well, call me queen of the dumbasses then because I'm in love. Fuck.

A/N: Surprise! I did not disappear off of the face of the earth...though it did seem tempting for a little bit. Just some writer's block, but that's normal I think. At least I hope it is. If you want proof of this trip into the rabbit hole, feel free to check out my tumblr and see my descent into shitty gif making and rambly text posts. It's a hot mess...

Moving on, holy balls 400 followers! I love all of you and I'm really psyched about where this fic is going. Lots of angst and an ending that I adore, plus a super bad ass scene with Aubrey quoting Tyra Banks at Beca. I came up with that over hush puppies at LJS and literally went crazy for a second as it all came together. My finest moment ever came seconds later when I sent myself a rambling voice mail so I wouldn't forget it. I'm excited and I hope you are too. I'm also rambling like an idiot, but I love this story and the support is AMAZING! Thanks for reading!